Black Canary (Dinah Laurel Lance)
History Origin Dinah Lance was born into a family of crime fighters: her father Larry Lance, was a police officer and her mother was the original Black Canary. When Dinah was nineteen, even though denied by her mother, she decided to become a crime-fighter, taking on her mother's costume and identity as the Black Canary, after countless training under the watchful eye of her mother's former colleague and lifelong friend, Ted Grant alias Wildcat. In Silver Age history, it was due to a curse placed upon her at childhood by the Wizard, Dinah developed the ever famed 'Canary Cry'. However in current continuity, Dinah's sonic powers are a result of her metagene, having been a metahuman since birth although both sides of her family had never manifested any metahuman potential whatsoever. Shortly after her debut as the Black Canary, Dinah became a founding member of the Justice League. Dinah recommended the name in remembrance of the team her mother was part of the Justice Society. It was during this time Dinah first met Oliver "Ollie" Queen, the Green Arrow. Black Canary worked with the JLA for many years. Her friendship with Oliver soon blossomed into a romance. When Oliver left the JLA and moved to Star City to work on his own, she soon followed him. Not long after she had joined the team, Dinah Drake soon died from radiation poisoning as a result of a battle with a former villain she had fought in her younger days as a superheroine. Dinah's heart broken by such a loss, she resigned from the team and moved with Oliver to Seattle. Lady in Waiting Oliver and Dinah set up a shop, "Sherwood Florist", as well as continuing to fight crime. Oliver was having something of a midlife crisis, however, just as he was about to turn 43. He wanted to marry Dinah and have a real family with real children of his own (he loved Roy, his ward, and Roy's daughter Lian, but wanted his own biological children). Dinah turned down the idea, citing that their lives were too dangerous. During this time, Dinah was kidnapped by a drug dealer she was investigating. She was brutally tortured, causing her to lose her 'Canary Cry' and rendering her incapable of having a child. Ollie killed the man who tortured her, and that act lead to a turning point in the life of the Emerald Archer. When Dinah came out of the hospital, she was still emotionally traumatized by the incident. Oliver was with her as she entered counseling. Needless to say, she was not going out fighting crime during the first few weeks after leaving the hospital. Ironically enough, it was when she stepped up to stop some muggers on a bus (taking a few hits in the process) she felt back to her old self, knowing that her biggest fear was that she would not be able to fight back anymore, and that fear was gone. She and Ollie were closer than ever. She continued to fight crime off and on, eventually breaking up with Oliver, feeling he would never commit to her completely. She was shocked when Connor Hawke, Oliver's son and the new Green Arrow, told her Oliver had died over Metropolis while fighting some eco-terrorists. Birds of Prey Dinah was contacted by Oracle to work in Gotham, which she accepted, and the pair formed a partnership, the Birds of Prey. Dinah took this role with great satisfaction. And with that came the feeling that she needed a few changes required in this fresh new chapter of her life, deciding to abandon her traditional blonde wig and bleach her hair blonde whilst growing it longer instead. During her time operating with Oracle, Dinah operated using an electronic form of her Canary Cry: a weapon that would do the 'crying' on Canary's behalf, called Canary Cry Bombs. After a battle with Ra's al Ghul, she took a dip in the Lazarus Pit at Oracle's urging. Doing so healed her injuries and restored her Canary Cry as well as her ability to have a child. As time went on the Birds expanded their number with Dinah as the backbone of the team, operating alongside notable female agents such as the Huntress, Gypsy and Lady Blackhawk. Following that, Oracle shows Canary the retail space that later houses a reopened Sherwood Florist. A short time later, Dinah resigned from the JSA when she discovered that Oliver Queen had been resurrected. She traveled to Star City, where the two former lovers were happily reunited. Their renewed relationship was short-lived however, as Dinah feared that Oliver might try to take advantage of his young female ward, Mia Dearden. Dinah left Star City and returned to Metropolis where she continued to function with the Birds of Prey. Following the "One Year Later" jump, Dinah trades life experiences with Lady Shiva in hopes of softening the warrior, undertaking a harsh training regimen in an unidentified Vietnamese bidonville, or shantytown. The regimen replicates Shiva's early life and training; Shiva, meanwhile, assumes Dinah's role in Oracle's group and demands that her associates call her the "Jade Canary". When Dinah realizes following Lady Shiva's path will require her to fundamentally change who she is as a person, she ends the training and returns to the United States. She brings with her a little girl, Sin, who also had begun the harsh grooming process to be Lady Shiva's successor with the help of the now resurrected Oliver Queen uses his connections to allow Sin to immigrate into the country. Dinah hopes to balance her duties as a superhero with the responsibilities of being a surrogate mother/sister to the child. Dinah informs Oracle that she is quitting the team, having decided to devote herself to raising Sin next Dinah and Sin leave Metropolis. It is hinted that their final destination is Star City; Dinah jokingly tells Sin that she can rip out Ollie's beard if he isn't nice to her. Justice League of America After leaving the Birds of Prey, Black Canary joins with Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) and Red Arrow (Roy Harper) on a mission to locate the Red Tornado's body (stolen by his creator and Solomon Grundy). The three heroes join forces with Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Black Lightning, and Vixen to defeat Amazo. The assembled heroes re-form the Justice League; Dinah is made the Chairwoman, due to her strong abilities and strategic mind. The team's first mission with Dinah as leader sees the JLA and JSA discover that members of the Legion of Super-Heroes (a team that lives in the 31st Century) have been located in the 21st Century. Green Arrow and Black Canary Dinah eventually returned to Star City to aid Oliver, Connor and Mia against Roadblock and Merlin. During the course of their mission, Dinah rekindled her relationship with Oliver yet again, feeling that he had truly changed and that all the parts of him that she hated seemed to be gone. Oliver admitted to Dinah that many of the changes he made over the last year were due in most part for her, because he wanted to be a better man. As the battle concluded, Oliver at last proposed to Dinah. Dinah however, did not give him an answer right away. Shortly thereafter, Ollie and Speedy helped Black Canary when Merlyn abducted Canary's "daughter" Sin. To save Sin's life, Ollie was forced to fake the young girl's death, keeping the knowledge of the plan between himself and Mia, even at the risk of losing Dinah forever. After Sin was placed into safekeeping, Ollie told Dinah what he had done. Recognizing that he was willing to sacrifice his own happiness to save a life, Dinah finally agreed to marry him. After a great deal of compromise and strife, Dinah and Ollie agreed to get married inside the Secret Sanctuary, the original cave headquarters of the Justice League of America. Wedding guests included nearly everyone within the superhero community who were asked to attend the ceremony in-costume. The wedding was interrupted by a phalanx of supervillains, who attempted to take out as many heroes as possible in one fell swoop. Nearly all of the villains were apprehended except for Deathstroke, who managed to escape. Despite the interruption, the ceremony concluded and Dinah Lance and Oliver Queen were married. Following Dinah's marriage to Ollie, the duo fought crime alongside one another, facing new challenges such as the villains Cupid, a mentally ill vigilante stalker with an obsession for the Green Arrow; and Discord, a man deafened by Canary's scream during the first fight with Dregz. Cry for Justice Canary had soon resigned from her position as chairwoman of the Justice League, and later Hal Jordan and Ollie start their own Justice League. Discovering this, Dinah confronts Ollie in anger when he returns to the Watchtower to warn her and the other former League members of an impending attack on the world's superheroes, after which Prometheus arrives out of nowhere and attacks the team, severing Red Arrow's arm and defeating Dinah by maneuvering her into the path of an energy bolt fired by Starman (Mikaal Tomas). The now defeated Prometheus then destroys Star City via a teleportation device. While searching for survivors, Dinah and Oliver find the body of a dead, bloodied Lian, the daughter of Roy Harper. Dinah is then seen at Roy Harper's bedside at the hospital with Donna Troy, preparing to deliver the tragic news of his daughter's death when he awakens from his coma. The Blackest Night In the events of The Blackest Night, Dinah fights off an army of Black Lantern Corps under the supervillain Nekron. Nekron reveals he has the power to control all the heroes who have died and been resurrected, one of which, is the Green Arrow. With the aid of Mia Dearden and Connor Hawke, Dinah fights her husband (who has been transformed into a Black Lantern) while he tells her that he has been secretly in love with Shado since she raped him and that she is a fool for thinking he has changed, all out of his control. In the short time he is able to regain self-control, Ollie deliberately misses a shot he had aimed at Dinah, instead severing a hose containing liquid nitrogen. Connor, under Dinah's instructions, reluctantly uses the hose on Ollie, freezing him solid. The three then join the other heroes in battle. After Ollie returns to normal, it is discovered that he had secretly murdered Prometheus and had left his body to rot in the villain's own headquarters. After Barry Allen and Hal Jordan confront Ollie with this revelation, Ollie goes on the run. Dinah joins Hal and Barry in searching the ruins of Star City for him, and eventually finds the archer scouring the city for one of the men who had worked for Prometheus. He easily defeats all three of them, leaving Dinah trapped in a specialized fluid designed to restrain her. Following this chain of events is Dinah's realization that all Ollie wants is to be left alone and so she tells him during her visitation at his jail cell after he turns himself in. With that said, she decides their marriage is over, leaving her wedding ring with him. The Brightest Day During the events of Brightest Day, she rejoins her old teammates Oracle, Huntress, and Lady Blackhawk as well as Hawk and Dove to restart the Birds of Prey. While cornering the Penguin, they are attacked by an assassin that Dinah addresses as the White Canary! The assassin lures the police to Dinah's location, with news reports talking about a botched mission of hers to rescue a kidnapped child resulting in the death of Gregory Chasco, as well as her marriage to the ousted Green Arrow. They also mention her perceived "abandonment" of Sin. The Penguin has them to go to his hideout to escape the police. Recently she fought with White Canary. It was a closed fight because White Canary was as skilled as Shiva in martial arts. Canary thought she was Lady Shiva but she found out she was not. White Canary was actually the sister of the “Twelve Brothers In Silk” a group of legendary fighters who had remained undefeated until Dinah fought them. White Canary saw this as the ultimate shame to her family and had killed every one of her brothers to protect her father’s honor and then went after Dinah. During their fight Dinah asks White Canary if she was the one that killed Gregory Chasco. She was not. White Canary told her Lady Shiva killed Chasco. After that, she promised Dinah that if she removed her handcuffs she would help her to find and kill Shiva. Dinah then regretfully tells her fellow Birds of Prey members that she has to quit the team and head to Bangkok. Huntress and Lady Blackhawk decide to go on a rescue mission to find her. They find out that White Canary was holding Sin hostage and threatening to kill her unless Dinah fought to the death with Shiva. Huntress decides to fight on Dinah’s behalf while Dinah finds and rescues Sin then returns before either Huntress or Shiva could die fighting. Post FlashPoint After The Event of FlashPoint, Dinah has reformed the Birds of Prey and taken over leadership from Barbara Gordon, though Gordon as Batgirl is still a part-time member. Her team consists of Poison Ivy, Katana, Starling, and Batgirl. The group is currently dealing with a mysterious organization led by a man called Choke who has skilled powers of persuasion and mind control. It is implied that Canary is one of the many people under Choke's control after she sends Starling into an ambush by Choke's men. Powers and Abilities Powers Canary Cry: possesses a Metagene that gives her a potent sonic attack, able to damage and stun foes or objects. Her scream is able to shatter metal. Possesses an incredible level over her vocal cords. This enables her to mimic sounds and generate any sound she desires even developing several abilities. *''Disruption: causes an Incredible amount damage to non-living targets, and a Remarkable amount of damage to living targets, stuns people in an entire area. *Sound Disruption: Remarkable ability to disrupt sound and sonic powers. *Induce Sleep'' Abilities Martial Arts Master: Making her one of the most skilled martial artists on the planet. She has also been trained by Wildcat, who is formerly the Heavyweight Champion of the World, in the art of Boxing. Has also been trained in Dragon Style Kung Fu and pressure point fighting. Thanks to Wonder Woman, Dinah has been trained in Amazon martial arts but is strictly a novice in that kind of fighting style. Master Tactician and Strategist: Dinah is also considered a strong leader and strategic thinker, which has led to her being made Chairwoman of the latest incarnation of the JLA. Harmonica Player: Though not a useful skill in battle, it is a skill nonetheless that she uses to strengthen her breathing and vocal cords. This is a form of training for her Canary Cry. Master Acrobat Master Detective Aviation Expert Motorcyclist Strength Black Canary possesses the strength level of a woman her age, size and weight who engages in intensive regular exercise. Dinah can therefore press (lift) at least her own bodyweight. The Canary Cry has been able to reach 300 decibels, which is enough to make a person's ears start bleeding even if they're not the attack target. It's possible the scream can reach far higher levels. Weakness *Coming Soon Equipment *Body Armor *Transmitter earring and necklace (allows her to stay in contact with Oracle) Transportation *Motorcycle Weapons *Dinah is skilled in the use of most weapons. *Canary Cry Bomb (During the time she was without her actual Canary Cry, Dinah carried round bombs that would emit a similar loud sonic sound). Notes *Dinah's birthday is April 10th. Trivia * Dinah now bleaches her hair instead of wearing a blonde wig. See Also *Black Canary (Dinah Laurel Lance)/Gallery Links *http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Dinah_Laurel_Lance_(New_Earth) *http://www.comicvine.com/black-canary/29-1689/ Category:Team Arrow Category:Former Justice League Members Category:Former Justice Society Members Category:Birds of Prey Members